Exits Of 5 High-Level Officials Are Latest Moves To Rock CDC

AP: 5 High-Level CDC Officials Are Leaving In The Latest Turmoil For The Public Health Agency
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was rocked by five high-level departures on Tuesday in the latest turmoil for the nation’s top public health agency. The departures were announced at a meeting of agency senior leaders. The Atlanta-based CDC has two dozen centers and offices. The heads of five of them are stepping down, and that follows three other departures in recent weeks. This means close to a third of the agency’s top management is leaving or left recently. (Stobbe, 3/25)

NBC News: CDC Is Pulling Back $11B In Covid Funding Sent To Health Departments Across The U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pulling back $11.4 billion in funds allocated in response to the pandemic to state and community health departments, nongovernment organizations and international recipients, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday. "The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a statement. (Zadrozny, 3/25)

The Washington Post: EPA Knew It Wrongfully Canceled Dozens Of Environmental Grants, Documents Show
Trump officials knew their legal justification for terminating dozens of Environmental Protection Agency grants was flawed, according to documents and internal emails reviewed by The Washington Post. Since President Donald Trump took office, the EPA has targeted billions of dollars in grants authorized by the Biden administration. This month, the agency announced the cancellation of an additional 400 grants, totaling $1.7 billion, many of which were meant to improve air and water quality and strengthen resilience to natural disasters. (Ajasa, 3/24)

The New York Times: In A Shift, More Republicans Want Government Investment In Children
Democrats have long looked to the government to support their families through public programs and spending. Increasingly, Republicans want the same. The details of how they want the government to help vary. But the growing bipartisan agreement reflects a belief among parents that American families are in crisis and something has to change. (Miller, 3/24)

On drugs and devices —

Modern Healthcare: CMS Ramping Up Price Transparency Rule Enforcement
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has taken more enforcement actions in the first two months against health systems for not complying with price transparency rules than in all of 2024, but the size of the penalties is dropping. CMS issued seven notices of monetary penalties during January and February, compared with three for all of 2024. In late February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order bolstering oversight of price transparency requirements that were enacted in 2021. (Broderick, 3/25)

Becker's Hospital Review: FDA Green-Lit Company's Blood Vessel Despite Staff Concerns
The FDA approved Humacyte’s lab-grown blood vessel Symvess despite internal warnings from agency scientists about its safety and efficacy, The New York Times reported March 24. The decision, made in December without a public review, has sparked criticism from medical experts and former FDA officials. (Murphy, 3/25)

NPR: Fentanyl Is A Top Threat To The U.S, According To Trump Administration
Fentanyl and international drug gangs responsible for smuggling the deadly street drug rank among the top threats to U.S. national security. That's according to an assessment delivered on Tuesday by top Trump administration officials to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Cartels were largely responsible for the deaths of more than 54,000 U.S. citizens from synthetic opioids" during the 12-month period that ended in October 2024, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said during opening remarks. (Mann, 3/25)

Modern Healthcare: FDA Warns Dexcom Over G6, G7 Continuous Glucose Monitor Testing
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday released a warning letter that it sent to medical device company Dexcom on March 4 citing quality issues at the facilities responsible for testing its G6 and G7 continuous glucose monitors. Agency investigators observed the violations, including inadequate process monitoring and test validation, when they inspected the company’s facilities in San Diego from Oct. 21 through Nov. 7, and Mesa, Arizona, June 10-14. (Dubinsky, 3/25)

Stat: Net Prices For Drugs Inched Up In The Fourth Quarter After Falling A Year Ago
The net prices that health plans paid for medicines — after subtracting rebates, discounts, and fees — rose a modest 0.4% in last year’s fourth quarter, but that compared unfavorably with a 3% decline in the same period a year earlier, according to the latest data from SSR Health, a research firm that tracks the pharmaceutical industry and its pricing trends. (Silverman, 3/25)

The Hill: Cuban ‘Hopeful’ About Trump Administration Lowering Prescription Drug Prices
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban in an interview with The Hill said he is hopeful the Trump administration will move to lower prescription drug prices. Cuban has criticized President Trump in the past and campaigned last year with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, then the vice president. But he’s hopeful the government under Trump will work to lower prices through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Health and Human Services Department (HHS). (Manchester, 3/25)

On veterans health —

Military.Com: Veterans Fear Trump Administration Plans To Privatize VA Health Care
Over six decades, Mark Foreman has turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs to recover from the consequences of a bullet wound to the hip sustained fighting as a Marine in Vietnam. It took endlessly long, infectious days for him to get out of deep, cavernous mountains after getting shot, three weeks straight of surgeries in Japan, and years of medical care to try to move on from his wound. Foreman was only 20 when he suffered the injury that would end his military career, and he was discharged after two years of service in 1968. Ever since, the VA has been providing the medical care he needs, as well as helping with the cost of art school that led to a career as a teacher. (Wu, 3/25)

NPR: Veterans Will Be Hurt By Trump’s Back-To-Office Order For VA Therapists, Sources Say
As the Department of Veterans Affairs calls staff working in telehealth into offices across the country, a widespread concern about lack of space has emerged. The change will compromise medical ethics and patients' privacy, clinicians and advocates at multiple VA locations told NPR. Telehealth has become common in recent years among medical professionals — especially for mental health therapists — and the VA hired many clinicians on a remote basis. The practice allowed the VA to expand its reach of mental health services into rural areas. (Riddle, 3/25)

Regarding federal workers —

KFF Health News: ‘I Am Going Through Hell’: Job Loss, Mental Health, And The Fate Of Federal Workers
The National Institutes of Health employee said she knew things would be difficult for federal workers after Donald Trump was elected. But she never imagined it would be like this. Focused on Alzheimer’s and other dementia research, the worker is among thousands who abruptly lost their jobs in the Trump administration’s federal workforce purge. The way she was terminated — in February through a boilerplate notice alleging poor performance, something she pointedly said was “not true” — made her feel she was “losing hope in humans.” (Pradhan and Pattani, 3/26)

KVPR: Federal Workers Ordered Back To Office Find Shortages Of Desks, Wi-Fi And Toilet Paper
Earlier this month, a Department of Agriculture employee who works remotely was given a list of possible locations for their upcoming mandatory return to office. One location was described as a "storage unit." Confused, the employee drove to the address, which turned out to be, in fact, a storage facility. When the employee asked the facility's owner why it might show up on a list of federal office spaces, the owner laughed and told the employee that the federal government does rent a unit there — to store a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service boat. It doesn't have heat, windows or power. (Bond and McLaughlin, 3/26)